Cutting Back
by VillageVoice412
Summary: What if Alex had fixed things before Paris?


Pre season 1. Pre Paris break-up.

What if Alex had fixed things before Paris?

Quick one-shot that came to me whilst driving in my car. Reviews greatly appreciated.

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Alex sat back against the leather and looked out across the dimly lit club. She looked around the VIP section she was in. A bunch of important people in her organization, but Alex was too preoccupied by the empty space beside her. Piper had left her. They'd had yet another fight about how they never spent any time together.

_"You're right there next to me Piper!" Alex protested. When Piper had first brought up that she and Alex hadn't been spending much time together anymore Alex had started bringing Piper to these business meetings. When they first got together she had tried to keep the Piper side of her life and her work side separate. But with them increasing her output, the only way got Alex to see the blonde as much as they both liked was to bring her with. _

_It was great. At first. They were both glad for the extra time together. They loved the fast parties, the clubs, the days spent lounging on exotic beaches all in the name of business...But business picked up. And even though Piper went with her to these meetings, Alex was lucky if on most nights she had two minutes to speak with her. _

_"It doesn't matter if you're right next to be or across the planet!" Piper shouted. "You're a million miles either way."_

_Alex closed the distance between them and tried to put her arms around the blonde woman, but Piper pushed her arms away. "Piper please don't do this now." Alex begged. She was already late as it was, which had come to be expected now with the two of them, but she was seriously pushing it. "We need to go."_

_Piper sat down on their four poster bed and started slipping her heels off. "I'm not going. In fact, you know what? I'm done."_

Alex ran her hand over the empty space beside her. She knew full well her work was slowly taking over her life. It had ruined her relationship with the only person she'd ever truly loved.

This was exactly why Alex didn't do relationships. Piper had always been different and she knew that. From the first time she laid eyes on Piper she'd wanted to make the blonde woman hers. It scared Alex how much Piper meant to her. How stupidly happy she made the brunette. She wasn't used to all that Piper made her feel. She lived a fast pace, high stakes kind if life. She had grown accustomed to how the business ran her life. But since Piper ... That kind of existence didn't excite her the way that it used to. She wasn't about to move to the suburbs and remodel her kitchen, but without Piper there by her side it hardly felt worth it.

They were a team now. Had been a team. All of the meetings and parties and trips Alex did, she did with Piper by her side. Doing it alone wasn't the same. And that scared Alex to death. She had been such a strong and independent woman before Piper. But now... She cast another look around the room. Now it didn't seem worth it.

She caught sight of Fahri in a corner deep in conversation and made up her mind. She knew she couldn't quit the business. Not fully. And she didn't want to. She loved traveling the world and the money was beyond amazing. But she needed to make room for Piper.

FLASHBACK  
"This is ruining everything good in your life!"

When Fahri had finished his conversation Alex swooped in, bypassing the next person who had been waiting to speak with him. Fahri wasn't happy about it, but he understood Alex's request. Back when he had recruited her at the tender age of 21 he had taken the young woman under his wing. He had big plans for her. And Alex had shared in those plans. Until now.

"What is it about her?" Fahri asked.

Alex shook her head. "I don't have a fucking clue."

Fahri smiled. "Young love." He sighed.

"I can't let this chase her away. I am so grateful for everything that has been done for me and given to me. For everything you have done. But she left. And I need her back. I don't want out. I just can't keep doing this much." Alex dropped her head down. She hated seeming weak. Needing someone as much as she needed Piper made her feel weak.

Fahri nodded. "Alex," he began. "You have done very good work for us ever since you started. I do not see why we cannot accommodate this simple request."

Yes, the drug trafficking business was dangerous. That was well understood. And if Alex had gone to anyone but Fahri she could get in a lot of trouble for such a request, possibly putting both her and Piper's lives in danger. But she knew Fahri had a soft spot for her. He had become something of a surrogate father to her. While the business was always his top priority, he highly valued Alex. She had lived a tough life. If anyone deserved to be happy it was her. She certainly wasn't the most important person to the business, but she wasn't a nobody either. In the grand scheme of things taking business from Alex and giving it to someone else didn't matter. If she no longer wanted to continue rising up in the tanks that was her choice.

Alex smiled. "Thank you so much."

Fahri reached over and wiped a tear from Alex's cheek. "It will be done. Now get yourself together. This is a business meeting." He said stern voice.

Alex nodded. "Yessir." She got up and went back to work. She had a couple of connections she needed to make before she could go home. "Can I just have a couple minutes?" She needed to excuse herself to put herself back together and get her game face back on.

Fahri shook his head. "No." He said, nodding to his left.

Alex turned around and saw Piper standing there. She was smiling, but Alex could see through that to the sadness behind it. She grabbed Piper's hand and led the other woman down a hallway at the back of the club and into an empty office. The door closed and they threw their arms around each other.

"I am so sorry," Piper began. "I didn't mean it."

Alex shook her head. "It's my fault," She pulled back and took Piper's face in her hands. "I am cutting back."

"Alex you can't-"

"I can and I am. It's already done."

Pipers face softened. "You did that for me?"

"Yes." Alex nodded. "Piper you are the most important thing to me. I know I do a shit job at at showing you, but it's true." She placed a soft kiss on Pipers lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." Piper smiled. It was the first smile Alex had seen on the blonde in quite a while and made Alex smile back. "So what does cutting back mean exactly?"

"I don't know exactly." Alex leaned back and pulled Piper closer. "but what I do know is that it means I will have more time for you." She tucked a stray hair behind pipers ear and smiled.

Piper smiled and kissed Alex. "But we'll still travel right? I really still want to go on that Tahiti trip next week. Think of what the sun will so for my skin."

Alex laughed and swatted Pipers ass. "Yes you park slope narcissist!"


End file.
